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Jawar Mohammed faces off hard questions after ECA presentation

Ethiopia Press Directorate, established under the office of the Prime Minister, held a panel discussion at Economic Commission of Africa on March 10, 2019. The panel titled Mass Media for Building Democratic System invited journalists, political elites and influential people. The panel discussion was expected to be led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, but Dr. Getachew Deneku, Journalism and Communications lecturer at Addis Ababa University, filled the position. Among the issues raised was the safety of journalists in the country. The recent incident that led to two journalists from Mereja TV being beaten while on the job was mentioned as an example. Activist Jawar Mohammed’s opening presentation was also one of the main topics of the meeting. His presentation received challenging questions and backlash from the attendees for what most deemed as a hypocritical content. It is known that Jawar Mohammed is a prominent activist that was behind the protest across Oromia since 2016.